Automobile telephone units are in widespread use in recent years. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-122049 discloses one such automobile telephone unit for use on an automobile. The disclosed automobile telephone unit is mounted on a support base movable along the rear surface of a support post mounted vertically on the upper surface of a central console, the support base being angularly movable in the direction of forward movement of the automobile, about a pin disposed on the upper end of the support post. When not in use, the telephone unit is positioned in overlapping relation to the rear surface of the support post. To use the telephone unit, the support base is moved along the support post up to the upper end of the support post. When the support base has reached the upper end of the support post, then the support base is angularly moved forwardly into a horizontal position. The handset is lifted from the main telephone unit body to energize the telephone unit after which pushbuttons on the dial in the handset are pushed to establish contact with the telephone set of the party being called. When the telephone unit is not in use, it is positioned behind the central console out of physical interference with the driver who is driving the automobile.
Automobile telephone units have a so-called hookswitch as with telephone units for home use. When the handset of an automobile telephone unit is lifted, the telephone unit is energized. While the automobile is running especially on a rough road, the automobile may be vibrated so strongly that the handset may come off the main telephone nit body, energizing the telephone unit regardless of the fact that the user does not intend to use the telephone unit.
The driver of an automobile, when driving the automobile, is required to watch ahead of the automobile and also pay attention to other automobiles running around. When lifting the handset of a telephone unit on the automobile and pressing desired pushbuttons on the handset while the automobile is running, the driver must look at the dial in order to select the proper pushbuttons. It would not easy, however, for the driver to successively push the desired pushbuttons accurately among ten numerical pushbuttons bearing the numbers 0 through 9, while at the same time directing his attention to any automobiles running nearby There is a demand for a device for allowing the driver to accurately dial the telephone number of a party to be called without looking at the handset.
An automobile telephone unit disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 57-8142 is installed in a box which can be pulled out from the central console of an automobile toward the backseat thereof. Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 57-22455 discloses another automobile telephone unit which can be pulled longitudinally out of an armrest on the backseat of an automobile for use. These automobile telephone units are apparently designed for use primarily by a passenger on the backseat.